Why Instagram is Becoming the Best Channel for Organic Marketing

Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has become one of the top-installed social media platforms. It seems like everyone — and literally their dog — has an account on the visual-centered platform. Its uses are limitless. Gone are the days when it’s just for personal use. Today it offers many different ways for users to engage with family, each other, and local businesses. For businesses, it can be used to market to customers. And in recent years, it’s becoming the best channel for marketing research. It’s a gamechanger that allowing brands to humanize the content they post, recruit new talent, showcase new products, and inspire their audience.

What makes Instagram the perfect social media marketing channel is just about anyone can find use in the app. Whether it’s to shop, learn or catch up on the latest news, share or discover art, learn recipes or share food feats, or just expressing yourself and diving into entertainment sectors like comedy, music, TV, and film. These reasons are also why it’s become such a popular choice for B2B and B2C digital marketers.

Below, we share why Instagram is becoming the best channel for organic marketing.

Find A Target Audience

When companies start marketing to their customers, one of the first things they have to determine is their target audience. Some have an idea of who that audience is, but Instagram can help you discover them if you’re unsure. According to Business Insider by Pulse, the number of daily active Instagram users has steadily increased from 1 million in 2010 to 700 million daily users. This continued climb means the content you post will reach a broader range of people.

To give you an idea of who tunes into your content, check out Instagram’s insights. The analytic data it produces helps you know what metrics to focus on and learn what kind of content drives your followers’ engagement. Once you’ve gotten their attention, you can tweak your content to reel in more followers. Instagram’s user base tends to skew a bit older, consisting of millennials in their 20s and 30s. It’s wise to follow suit, as this generation has more spending power and is currently responsible for various shifts in marketing tactics.

Gathering Info Is Easier Than Ever

Back in 2016, Instagram launched its “Stories” feature, a copycat version of Snapchat’s feature of the same name. However, they differ in popularity and versatility. To date, 200 million people use Instagram Stories daily. These stories only have a shelf life of 24 hours, making all who are lucky enough to catch them feel elite and special. This time-sensitive approach to content reinforces why Instagram is the best channel for organic marketing. Instead of looking to comments on posts for feedback, businesses can use stories to quickly gather information and opinions from followers by hinting at incentives or flat out asking questions. Information gathering in stories can be enhanced, too, with these interactive additions:

–Swipe up: Convenient and straightforward; this feature allows you to drive traffic to your site by linking to a survey or landing page. With the swipe of a finger, followers can leave their feedback.

–Poll stickers: Gain direct feedback with a poll sticker. Followers choose one of two answers, enabling them to record their opinions anonymously. Quick and easy but helps with engagement and allows businesses to interact with customers.

–Question sticker: Like an Ask Me Anything session, businesses set the question or statement, and target audiences can answer the question or pose their own.

–Live streaming: An excellent opportunity for interacting with your followers in real-time and gain feedback. New York Magazine reports that 82 percent of users prefer watching live streams over regular posts.

In addition to Instagram’s engagement features, the app also enables followers to curate their feeds instead of only showing them what the algorithm suggests. As they scroll through Instagram’s discovery section, they can easily go to a company’s page and go down a rabbit hole of content.

Helps Build Relationships

Another reason why Instagram is the best channel for organic marketing is its ability to help you foster connections with your audience. It was found that 36 percent of B2C brands and 13 percent of B2B brands consider Instagram to be “very important” or “critical” to their social media marketing. We believe that number should be higher.

Building a following on Instagram or any social media platform for that matter isn’t easy. It takes time, and there’s a lot that goes into it. Like email marketing, in social media marketing, you have to narrow down what works and what doesn’t, when to post, what hashtags to use, what you want to say and how you want to say it. All to get the results you intended.

Likes and comments are great, but social media marketing’s real goal is to build relationships and brand loyalty with your followers, which drives more traffic to your site and ultimately converts them.

A tip for building a relationship with your followers is to always respond to your followers when they leave comments on your posts — no matter if the comment is good or bad. This lets them know they are heard and that the company is open to interactions with its followers or customers. Other followers will see this and are more likely to engage as well, boosting their brand loyalty and allow you to learn more about them.

Increased Revenue

User behavior is crucial to marketing and has proven that social media is the future of marketing. Because of users, eCommerce brands like Natori have reported a 1,416 percent increase in traffic, and Magnolia Boutique saw a 20 percent increase in revenue. When businesses add hashtags, geotags, and shoppable product tags, they help their customers discover new ideas, products, and interests. In fact, 83 percent of Instagram users discover new products and services on the platform!

Unconventional Advertising

Every business knows that ads are a way to inform customers about products and convince them of your services’ value. However, many consumers hate ads despite knowing the purpose they serve. People don’t want to be marketed to, so companies have to get creative with their efforts. Enter Instagram. A study done by the University of Florida found that Instagram users prefer the advertising that popped up throughout the app because often, the ads didn’t resemble traditional ads — but in a good way. Subtlety in your ads is crucial.

On Instagram, the most successful ads are ones that don’t feel like ads at all. Instead, it appears like a regular post. Instagram features an ad platform through the app where your business can add clickable images, videos, and other ads. The only caveat is that it does require you to have a Facebook account. Using the ad tool is an excellent way to have maximum impact with your followers; drive traffic to a direct location, whether it’s to a landing page or a product on your site.

Joseph Studios: Enhancing Your Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Social media marketing is a branch of marketing proven to be wildly successful in growing your business. When coupled with the popular powerhouse that is Instagram, social media is an organic marketing tool that’s foolish to ignore.

Our passionate marketing team at Joseph Studios is full of enthusiastic experts ready to help you capitalize on social media marketing and significantly increase customer engagement. We specialize in organic marketing, social media, content, and strategy subscriptions, and we’re eager for you to take advantage of our services.

Are you interested in learning how to enhance your marketing game? Contact us today!